News from the Future

For the fifth year running the number of registered dentists in Europe has declined and in some areas people are travelling up to 50 kilometres to obtain their services. The drop in numbers is blamed on the success of the new toothpastes such as LoveSmile that were launched 15 years ago. These not only keep teeth brilliantly white but contain nanoparticles which can penetrate cavities and repair them from the inside, so there is no longer a need for dentists to drill and fill. 

Page 3 Chemicals in toothpaste could cause bone cancer in old age warns dental fillings manufacturer. 

Of course there is no such product as LoveSmile toothpaste, at least a search of the Internet failed to reveal one. What the above news item suggests is that a trip to the dentist is likely to become a rare event in the life of children bom today, unlike the regular visits to the dentist that most people have had to make in the past if they wanted to keep their teeth in good condition. The new ingredients mentioned in the 

Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving. John Emsley 

Copyright 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim 

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Solar panels embedded in windows, of the type reported in the News from the Future at the start of this chapter, should be a feature of many buildings by the middle of this century. Then of course they will have to be kept clean even when they are not easily accessible -which brings me to the next topic in this better living chapter and one which will remove the need for this chore. 

A concerted effort might well bring great benefits as the following news item from the future shows ... 

Most of us are now aware that the military has for some years now, been able to manipulate news and spin the major media when it comes to reporting of US military involvement overseas. The lessons of being Out-Psyoped at home have been taken on board and are not to be repeated in the future. That the lesson was indeed learned was clearly demonstrated in the reporting of the 1991 Gulf War, when CNN stole the show due to the access it had to direct feeds from US military satellites. 

The stars never lie. Now, please, I must go. See the master is not disturbed. I made my escape, knowing from Mama s rapturous smile that the news of many future grandsons would be down at the wellhead in thecampo in no time and all over the parish by evening— all over Venice, very likely, for the Angeli clan forms a substantial part of the population. 

During the 1930s, Science Service, a not-for-profit independent news organization, promulgated an approach to popularizing science which favored audience preferences over scientific agendas and attended to industry as well as academic research interests. Stories about chemistry and chemists harmonized well with Science Service s emphasis on research utility and relevance. This chapter describes examples from syndicated news reports, radio broadcasts, a newspaper series called Fabrics of the Future , and a department store exhibit on chemistry that traveled through the United States in 1939-40. 

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